For those of us that are new to painting, any recommendations for a quality tape?
Frog, Lime Line, and 3M Scotch are all good quality. Mainly, you want to avoid cheap hardware store brands and yellow/white/brown masking tape in general since the adhesive and paper are sub-par. You'll have bleed throughs and you'll play hell trying to get all the tape back off- cheap tape doesn't to pull off as cleanly. You also can't leave it on as long as the quality blue/green tape or you won't be peeling- you'll be scraping. Stick to automotive grade painter's tape and not household or general purpose tape for jobs you care about. I like to pull tape as soon as possible- I don't wait until the paint dries, and I advise against waiting that long.
Blue painter's tape is medium tack and green is high tack. For rough surfaces go with green. If tape is too sticky and you're concerned that it will cause damage by lifting a layer of paint upon removal, stick it to your shirt or jeans first. The tape will pick up some lint and now won't grab the work surface as tightly. Of course doing this is not recommended for super fine tape lines on show cars, but it's been done.
3M automotive grade tape is often referred to by color but there are more options than just blue/green, and you can choose other details when you order as well. We're looking for "233" and "471" tape for normal use, and 3M green Fine Line tape is 218. Fine Line tape is used for clean color separations like racing stripes.